RICHARD
,
TIMOTHY
(
1845
-
1919
), ‘one of the greatest
missionaries
whom any branch of the Church has ever sent to
China
.’
Born at
Ffaldybrenin, Carms.
,
10 Oct. 1845
, the son of
Timothy
and
EleanorRichard
, he was baptized
in
1859
and became a member of
Caeo Baptist church
. After a period of
school teaching
, he entered the
Haverfordwest Baptist College
(
1865
), and in
1869
the
Baptist Missionary Society
sent him to
China
. There he laboured, with infrequent furloughs, from
1870 to 1915
, first in
Chafoo
, then in
Shantung
and
Shansi
, and finally in
Shanghai
, when, in
1891
, he was appointed
secretary
of the
Christian Literature Society of China
. He resigned in
1915
, and d. in
London
,
17 April 1919
.

His manifold activities and vast influence defy summary.
Pioneer missionary
,
philanthropist
,
missionary statesman
,
scholar
,
educationist
,
author
, and
publicist
, friend and adviser of princes and peasants, the name of ‘
Li T'i-motai
’ was a household word throughout
China
. His Chinese honours were singularly distinguished, e.g. a
mandarin of the highest grade
and a member of the
Order of the Double Dragon
. The
University of Wales
gave him its
LL.D.
(
1916
); he was also
D.D.
and
D.Litt
.